On Mon, Jun 7, 2010 at 6:23 AM, Roan Kattouw <roan.kattouw(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Chad <innocentkiller@...> writes:
I'd like to touch on this one particular
point. The community HAS spoken
and clearly wants it back the way it was. A volunteer even did so [0] but
was reverted [1] with the message that UI changes to Vector are off-limits
without some sort of prior discussion and approval.
This sits with me _very_ badly. I don't disagree (in principle) that changes to
our user experience should be discussed and not implemented via fiat. But
when you've got overwhelming consensus that this is the right course of
action, reverting the change and declaring it off-limits to our committers
is just wrong. Our volunteer developers do a pretty good job of judging and
implementing community consensus, and saying that some things aren't
negotiable sets a bad precedence.
I completely agree with this. Although the people that made and executed this
decision are my friends and coworkers, I increasingly feel the need to call them
out on this particular action. We, the usability team, exist to improve the
appearance and usability of the site, not to own or monopolize these topics.
This revert, particularly the tone (and, to a lesser degree, the substance) of
the revert summary, sends the message that we do in fact claim that monopoly;
that any decision about usability goes through us; that "our" code is a sacred
work that may only be touched with prior approval of a staff member, and that
any mortal who dares violate these sacred commandments will experience the Wrath
of the Immediate Revert.
I will say to be fair that the best response to what you perceive as a
poor design choice in somebody else's code is not to revert them and
say "There, I fixed it for you. Thank me later.", but perhaps to
discuss it with them first and find a compromise. There's an
imperative to listen and respond to community feedback, but quietly
changing somebody else's code against their explicit wishes is not a
good way to make your point.
--
Andrew Garrett
http://werdn.us/